10:08
To get out of making dinner, a chore I dislike, I agreed to do the puzzle and write the review today - an act that seems like a faint echo of today's puzzle theme. My bargain was something of an ESCAPECLAUSE (47A: Stipulation that frees one of liability). Now, however I have a YEN to BREAKOUT of my agreement, and lie SUPINE for a spell (67A: Japanese money, 28A: Newly famous celebrity [modified to suit my purposes], 36A: Lying on one's back). However, I will exercise my AXONS (37A: Conductors of impulses from nerve cells) and DECLARE (43D: State openly, as for a customs official) my thoughts ASAP (40D: Inits. on a rush order).
The puzzle posed no problems. I didn't know the theme answers off the bat, but they filled themselves in as I completed the rest of the puzzle. I was entertained by the inclusion of Mutual of OMAHA (14A). I have the jingle from those old TV ads permanently burned into my brain. I also learned a new word, FUMET (66a: Strong, seasoned stock, in cookery (which, BTW, shares a suffix with crock or mock (10D)). Maybe it's a common word among chefs, but, see above.
Right around 44A: Abbr. after a lawyer's name (ESQ), I thought to myself that the grid was in a fair way of including all the letters of the alphabet. When I got to 64A: Bronx __ (ZOO), the series was complete, and so is my review
Now I'm going to TAKEOFF and QUAFF a few.
~ Frannie
8:29
ReplyDeleteI knew reading the first six words above that the review was Frannie's. I learned FUMET, also, having a similar aversion to cooking. I believe, however, that the jingle that you remember may have been more strongly associated with Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. Were there independent ads, too? I don't remember those, but now that you mention it, I guess they broke into the ad/jingle right after the show started, and maybe a couple of times during. I don't remember the name of the guy with the white mustache (Marty something, maybe?), but his assistant was Jim, who forever had to construct the traps and set out nets. Anyway, I had no problem with this puzzle, but I was unable to escape making dinner, unhappily.